Today the Washington Post reported that "It is the people who are confident enough to reach out to others for help -- and to whom help is given -- who become truly capable of independence." A paper in the current issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology shows that infants who reached out for comfort to their mothers, and were given the needed comfort, grew up to be more secure adults in more positive romantic relationships. In particular, the study refutes the standard American belief that infants left to fend for themselves become more independent. Rather, infants whose mothers did not comfort them were less socially competent in grades 1-3, less able to rely on friendships as teenagers, and less able to resolve conflict in romantic relationships as adults.
Not that we needed any more proof that listening to your baby's needs is good.
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wakeful dreamer